Trump threatens to block Gordie Howe International Bridge
President Trump is threatening to block the Detroit Windsor Bridge until the U.S. receives full compensation, questioning Canada’s ownership and trade deals.
A Michigan congresswoman said Feb. 10 the owner of the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, met with a Trump administration official before President Donald Trump threatened to keep the rival Gordie Howe International Bridge from opening unless Canadian officials make further trade concessions.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, said during a news conference that she had it on good authority that a meeting between a representative of Matthew Moroun, whose family has long controlled ownership of the Ambassador Bridge, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick took place on Monday, Feb. 9, shortly before Trump made the threat via his Truth Social account.
Dingell later confirmed for the Free Press she had learned it was Moroun himself who met with Lutnick. The Free Press has been unable to independently verify any meeting took place but the New York Times confirmed that Moroun himself met with Lutnick based on two sources who were briefed on the meeting.
The White House declined to comment.
The announcement from Trump that he might keep the $4.7 billion Gordie Howe Bridge from opening after what has been decades of efforts by business leaders and politicians on both sides of the border amid his ongoing battle with Canada over trade policies exploded in southeastern Michigan, where the opening of the new bridge was seen as a fait accompli. Former President Barack Obama’s administration issued the necessary waiver for the new crossing − required of any new border entry − in 2013, though work didn’t begin until years later.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat who has developed a working relationship with Trump after having been a political foil for him previously, said she hadn’t yet discussed with him his threat regarding the bridge. But other Democrats excoriated him for suggesting he would hold it up to push for an advantage in a trade war with Canada, whose prime minister, Mark Carney, has publicly said the nation must look for ties with other international partners, including China, if it can no longer rely on the U.S.
“The billionaires won again,” said Dingell of the president’s threat and Moroun’s lobbying campaign. “He (Trump) won Michigan. Why is he hurting the voters that supported him?”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, however, that, “The fact that Canada will control what crosses the Gordie Howe bridge, and owns the land on both sides, is unacceptable to the president,” adding that, “It’s also unacceptable that more of this bridge isn’t being built with more American-made materials.”
But that characterization misrepresents the binational ownership and control of the new bridge and the fact that, if Trump wanted more say in the construction of the bridge, he could have made more demands during his first term, when it began, versus now, when it is virtually complete.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he spoke to Trump on Feb. 10, telling him steel from both countries was used despite Trump’s incorrect claims to the contrary and that workers from both countries built it. “This is a great example of co-operation between our countries. I look forward to its opening,” Carney said.
Business people had long argued that a rival bridge was necessary at one of the busiest trade crossings in North America, especially given how vital it was for in-time deliveries of parts and assemblies involved in the cross-border automotive industry based in metro Detroit. Meanwhile, Canadian politicians, especially, wanted to remove Ambassador Bridge traffic from downtown Windsor and have more control over the span.
Under an agreement reached by then-Gov. Rick Snyder and then-Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canada agreed to pay the cost of building the bridge, though it would remain owned by both Michigan and Canada. Canada is set to recoup the costs through tolls and has also agreed to put money up for the operation of the customs plaza on the U.S. side.
But Moroun, who took over ownership of the 95-year-old Ambassador Bridge from his father, Manuel (Matty) Moroun, never stopped the family’s legal and lobbying battle to protect its preeminence. Federal Election Commission records indicate that before the 2020 election, he gave some $600,000 to Trump Victory, a joint fundraising fund that shared proceeds between the president’s campaign and the Republican National Committee.
Trump lost Michigan in 2020. There was no immediate indication Moroun contributed to Trump ahead of the 2024 race, which he won.
During a press call with the Michigan Democratic Party on Tuesday, Feb. 10, Dingell said she “heard very reliably” that a representative of the Moroun family had visited the White House before Trump’s post, although she stopped short at that time of saying it was Matthew Moroun. An Ambassador Bridge official did not respond to calls from the Free Press, nor did former U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, Trump’s ambassador to Canada.
The New York Times said its sources were told Moroun met with Lutnick, who then phoned Trump prior to Trump’s social media post.
It’s unclear what steps Trump might take, if any, to keep the new bridge − named after the Hall of Famer for the Detroit Red Wings who was born in Saskatchewan. Trump has the authority to hold up traffic from moving through the U.S. side of the bridge, though if it were based on general security or trade concerns, a legal argument could be made any restrictions should equally apply to any Canadian border crossing. Trump could move to rescind the border waiver granted by Obama, though it wasn’t clear how that process might unfold.
Democratic members of Michigan’s congressional delegation were working on legislation to try to forestall any threat to the bridge’s opening but with Republicans in the majority in the House and Senate, any measure could face long odds − and a veto threat from Trump.
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on X @tsspangler. Staff writers Dave Boucher and Paul Egan and USA TODAY writer Joey Garrison contributed to this report.